LudoBites 8 (@ Lemon Moon on 02.01.12)

So we did not get a rezzie this time for LudoBites 8 @ Lemon Moon on the West side. They did away with OpenTable and opted for Urbanspoon instead and rezzies were determined lottery style.  Yuck...I do not like this new system.  Urbanspoon opened up a 24 hr period during which everyone could submit their reservation requests...1 per valid text-enabled phone number and if you were a lucky recipient you would receive a text which you had to respond to within 24 hrs to secure your rezzie.  Well, unfortunately, we did not get a rezzie.  Turns out the odds were only 5%.  Luckily...like always...there were cancellations and we managed to snag one.

This time they did have wine service and a pretty small but decent selection.  We opted to bring our own pinot for which there was a $18/bottle corkage fee.

Ludo had a new fleet of servers this time (some familiar faces but more new ones).  Our waitress was nice but unfortunately not very knowledgeable which was kind of disappointing.  She asked if we got our rezzie on OpenTable and I was thinking "really?  how could you not know which reservation system you're using now?"  She said everything on the menu was good but her lack of knowledge about the rezzie system really made us question her reliability.  Anyhow...onto the food!

We wanted to try everything on the menu but alas with only 2 of us, that would be way too much food not to mention the cost would be a little outta control.  We had already done 4 dineLA meals within a week and half span so we were trying to minimize the hit.

Brioche Seaweed Yuzu Butter - The brioche was as buttery and soft and lightly crumbly as a brioche should be.  The addition of the yuzu butter made this so so so decadent!  We knew the butter was bad for us but that didn't stop us from taking bite after delicious bite.  It was a thick slab of brioche with a nice helping of delicious butter on it.  The smell alone of the buttah was enough to elicit a Pavlov reaction as our salivary glands starting juicing up!  Delish!

Chicken Tandoori Crackling - Two pieces of crispy crackly chicken skin topped with chicken liver mousse.  The mousse reminded us of the wonderful pate de campagne we had while in Paris (picnic @ Versailles).  The chicken skin was not enough.  There was enough mousse left over that we smeared it onto some of the brioche and enjoyed that delicious rich liver-y mouthfeel.  This was one of our fave dishes of the meal.


Uni Creme Brulee - ZOMGosh...this was THE dish of the night!  So creamy and deliciously uni-ful.  It was a work of art in your mouth!  The ikura (salmon roe) was fresh and burst with that distinctly salty, sweet, oceany flavor of the sea with each bite.  The light sugar crust from the brulee was not overly sweet.  It gave just enough contrast to each savory creamy spoonful of the uni creme.  This was so good that we wanted to take it to-go so our foodie friends could try it but Ludo said no.  He felt that the quality of the dish would be compromised so no go.

Day Boat Scallop, Leek, Potato, Black Truffles - You know that when you have truffles on a dish it is usually that very distinct truffle-y scent that makes you swoon in anticipation.  Well this dish was a definite let down.  Being the most expensive dish of the evening and having read other bloggers' reviews right before our meal made us order this.  The scallop was good and fresh and did have that sweet scallop taste to it but the truffles fell short.  There was no delightful aroma, no swooning in anticipation.  If anything the truffle was kinda like a cereal flake just a little less hard.  I was really looking forward to this dish and was disappointed in it.  Oh well...c'est la vie!

Razor Clam, Avocado, Yuzu Cream, Apple, Lavender - We had mixed feeling about this dish.  We had had razor clams before that were very fresh.  So fresh that we had dug them up ourselves while clamming in OR and had gotten stuck in the sand (that's a story for another time!).  Anyway...the razor clam was fresh but not as sweet as the ones we had before.  Definitely loved the yuzu cream and the lavender in this dish.  You had to smear some of the cream and the lavender foam on the razor clam for each bite and it really made the clam sing in your mouth.

Raw Beef, Radish, Beets, Eel - This was American wagyu chopped into small pieces.  Raw like the name of the dish said.  This dish fell short as well.  It was missing something.  We weren't exactly sure what it was missing but it was definitely missing something.  Maybe some oil or salt or both oil and salt!  We asked our waitress where the eel was because we thought maybe that was what was missing and she couldn't even tell us which part of the dish was eel.  Turns out it was an eel sauce but we still didn't see the sauce.

Foie Gras, Tamarin, Turnips, Daikon - For those of you who know us, you know we love Akasaka.  It's a little hole in the wall place in City of Industry that has gotten insanely popular now.  Well, Akasaka does an incredible ankimo (monkfish liver).  Their ankimo is usually in a ponzu sauce and topped with green onions and sriracha.  Well this preparation reminded us of Akasaka's ankimo just no green onions or sriracha.  The dish had cubes of foie gras steeped in a tamarind broth with a few slices of turnips and daikon.  The tamarind broth was thin and flavorful.  We had to let the foie cook in the hot broth for a while because eating cold cubes of kinda raw foie was not very tasty.  This was a different prep method than we had expected.  Not bad but not great either.

Monkfish Liver, Cucumber, Cornichons, Mustard Seeds - This dish really stood out!  The hubby had not wanted to order this initially because monkfish liver is nothing new but boy was he glad we ordered it.  The flavors were bright and stood out with each bite.  The mustard seeds were sweet and really brought out the flavor in the liver.  The cornichons had just enough acidity to counter the sweetness of the mustard.  All in all just a well rounded dish.  A definite surprise.

Veal, Black Olive Tapenade Crust, Orange Caramelized Endive, Clementine Beurre Blanc - We ordered this one main dish only as all the preceding dishes had filled us up.  That plus we really thought we should at least try one main dish.  The veal was tender.  Hubby thought there was too much black olive (he's not a fan).  Endive was good...crisp and sweet and the clementine beurre blanc was instrumental in tying all the flavors together.  Not a bad dish but I don't think we'd order this again because of the excessive olives.

We did not order dessert this time around but the waitress did say that the Lemon Meringue dessert which was kind of a deconstructed lemon meringue tart was really good.  But then again she did say that about every dish so I think we'll save this for our next visit if we're lucky enough to get another rezzie.  Until the next meal...